Accessing the stream of consciousness through music

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21804
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 61:Human informatics and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Okanoya Kazuo 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 教授 (30211121)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 意識の流れ / 注意 / リズム / 視線 / 脳波 / 音楽 / コロナ禍 / 非対面実験

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We conducted three experiments to detect stream-of-consciousness. First, stimuli were created that were 3 beats when attended to duration and 4 beats when attended to frequency band and vise-versa. Well-trained subjects were able to perceive the same stimulus as different beats by paying attention to one of the attributes, and they evoked characteristic negative potentials when the beats were switched. Next, we established a method to measure the hierarchical perception of melody by using eye movements when listening to a melody with a musical score. With this procedure, we were able to describe the correspondence between the disruption of musical structure and the hierarchy of perception. Finally, as a feasible study within the Covid-19 situation, we conducted online experiments on rhythmic perception and discovered a phenomenon in which a change in timbre causes a decrease in discrimination. These experiments all succeeded in describing phenomenological stream-of-consciousness.

Free Research Field

生物心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

学術的な意義としては、意識の流れの現象学的記述を客観的に計測する方法を、音楽という流れが本質である刺激を材料として開発することができた。これらの方法をさらに発展させることで、現象学的意識の神経相関についての知見を集積することができる。社会的な意義としては、今回のコロナ禍のように対面実験が限定される場合でも、情報技術の活用によりオンラインによる研究を進展させることが可能であることを示した。オンライン実験を成功させるためには、被験者の関心度・参加意欲・注意度を計測できるよなプローブ施行を適宜挿入することが重要であることがわかった。